Prognosticating

Yesterday's Answer; Today's Question

Yesterday, to get a feel for American democracy's worst-case scenario, I read an article on the website VOX that suggested dysfunction in our politics could easily lead to a military coup.

This is simply not at all likely.

My immediate reaction was, "Where's your faith in America?"

After thinking it over, though, I decided that those who foresee a coup are simply viewing a decades-long struggle between Democrats and Republicans as a current crisis that has no such long history.

It may well be that we are experiencing an intensity of venom directed at the opposing party that is unprecedented, but hard feelings have been building for years, and are likely to be resolved in a predictable direction.

The year 2016 will see the nadir and reorganization of the Republican party as it copes with losing yet another presidential election.  The current disfunction in government will gradually resolve itself, however haltingly, as this process plays out.   We may be scraping the proverbial bottom, but I doubt we'll dip any lower.